The Great Collaborator, Edna Ferber and Doc Holliday

This Week
George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber
Tombstone, AZ Spicer's Court
Writers Notebook:

George S. Kaufman – The Great Collaborator

George S. Kaufman was born in Pittsburgh, PA, went to school there and studied law for a brief period before becoming interested in writing for newspapers. He worked all the low level jobs in the local newsrooms before landing a job on the staff of a Washington, D.C. Newspaper. He later moved to New York and worked for a couple of newspapers. Kaufman had a style of his own and his writing was most generally laced with satirical commentary and caustic wit. It wasn't long before his name was being mentioned around town and in 1917 the New York times noticed his work and he was hired as their drama critic.
The following year Kaufman working with Larry Evans and W.C. Percival wrote a play 'Someone in the House,' which was panned. That was just part of the problem, the flu epidemic prompted the City of New York to post warnings for people to avoid crowds, which cut Broadway audiences in half. Kaufman had one of those the devil made me do it moments, and advised the play producers to run an AD campaign that would read; 'Avoid crowds: see 'Someone in the House.'
For some reason Kaufman seemed to need a co author, a collaborator to exchange ideas with. But for what ever reason, the system worked. An Algonquin Round Table regular almost since its inception a couple of his collaborators came from that group. Marc Connelly was one of those writers and Edna Ferber was the other. Connelly was best know for his Pulitzer prize winning play 'Green Pastures.' His work with Kaufman produced three plays 'Merton of the Movies, Dulce, and Beggar on Horseback.
Edna Ferber and Kaufman wrote 'The Royal Family, a story about the Barrymore's of Broadway, Stage Door and Dinner at Eight.
Moss Hart and Kaufman had a long lasting work relationship and some of their most famous works were 'Once in a Lifetime, 'The Man Who Came to Dinner and the Pulitzer prize winner 'You Can't Take it With you.
Musical theater was not Kaufman's first love, but once you mix it a healthy dose of Marx Brothers comedy, he could accept the music. His early efforts in the musical field was for the Marx Brothers , 'The Cocoanuts' written with Irving Berlin and 'Animal Crackers' written with Morrie Ryskind, Bert Kalmar, and Harry Ruby.
Kaufman also wrote the screenplay for the Marx Brothers MGM film 'A Night at the Opera.'
Writing for the Marx Brothers could prove hazardous to the sensitivities of a writer when Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo ad lib-ed their way through one of your plays.
Back stage during one of his productions Kaufman once shushed someone, cupped his hand behind his ear and whispered, 'I think I just heard one of my lines.'
Kaufman was not tied to Broadway, he worked in Hollywood as well and a number of his plays were adapted to film. Among them were 'Dinner at Eight,' 'Stage Door' and 'You Can't Take it With You,' which won best picture Oscar in 1938.
As a stage director Kaufman directed, among others, the original production of 'The Front Page' by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck, ' and the Frank Loesser musical 'Guys and Dolls, for which he won the 1951 Best Director Tony.
You might also remember George S. Kaufman from the early days of Television when he was a guest on many of the Sunday evening comedy shows.
Round Table regular, Edna Ferber:
Edna Ferber was one of the most dedicated and prolific American writers of her generation. There was style and class in everything she wrote from the 'Homely Heroine' published in Everybody's Magazine in 1910 to 'A Kind of Magic' in 1963. Ferber was recognized as one of America's top writers by critics and the public.
Ferber and Kaufman collaborated to produce four plays although their first effort, based on Ferber's short story called Minick is seldom mentioned. As a play Minick went nowhere, apparently though it did nothing to dampen their working relationship, for Ferber and Kaufman eventually produced three successful Broadway plays 'The Royal Family,' 'Dinner at Eight' and 'Stage Door.'
Ferber's first Pulitzer prize was for her novel 'So Big,' which has been made into three different motion pictures.
The Pulitzer prize notwithstanding, her major works were 'Show Boat,' 'Giant,' 'Ice Palace,' 'Saratoga Trunk,' and Cimarron.' Three of those novels were made into musicals with 'Show Boat' being the most prominent.
(To be continued)

'Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone
Judge Spicer's Hearing
Monday, October 31, 1881
Judge Wells Spicer walked into his courtroom at exactly three o'clock and one glance at the spectators in the room told him he had a problem. The judge had ruled that the hearing would be closed to the public. But from what he could see the order was being disregarded. The first two rows of the gallery were filled with backup lawyers, assistants and a few hangers on. He also recognized several members of the press that had apparently lied their way past the bailiff. It caused him some concern, but for the time being, he decided to ignore it.
Doc and Wyatt sat at the defense table wedged in between Tom Fitch and T.J. Drum. Beads of sweat appeared on Doc's forehead and he nervously toyed with a pencil and began to doodle on a note pad.
Ike Clanton was at the prosecution table, his personal lawyer, Ben Goodrich to his right, District Attorney Price and his chief assistant, Earl Smith, was at the left end of the table. Doc sensed a more than confidant; you might even call it a cocky air coming from the prosecutions side.
Judge Spicer rapped his gavel and called, "Order in the court. Court is now in session."
And with those words E. J. Risley, the court reporter began taking notes.
Judge Spicer said, “Papers have been filed with this court entitled: Arizona Territory Vs Earp’s and Holliday. Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp and J.H. Holliday are charged with the wanton and willful killing of Frank McLowry, Tom Mc Lowry and Billy Clanton. This hearing has been called in order to examine those charges.”
Judge Spicer then nodded toward the district attorney and said, “I believe the first witness is to be Dr. H. M. Mathews. Dr. Matthews, would you please take the stand."
A bushy browed man in his early fifties wearing a rumpled gray suit and horn-rimmed glasses walked forward. The gentleman was sworn in by the clerk and took a seat in the witness box.
District Attorney Price got up from his chair and walked to a position in front of the witness. "Would you please tell the court your name and what position you hold in the community?
"My name is H. M. Matthews, I am a practicing physician, and Coroner of Cochise County.”
Price then asked, "Where were you on the 26th of October, 1881?”
"I was in the town of Tombstone on that day.”
"Did you see or were you made aware of a difficulty that occurred between the Earps and Holliday and the Clantons and McLowry’s on that day?"
"I was notified of the affray. I did not see it."
"At any time during that day, did you have occasion to observe William Clanton, Thomas McLowry, and Frank McLowry?"
Dr. Matthews nodded and said, "Yes. It was in the middle of the afternoon. And when I saw those men, Frank and Thomas McLowry were dead and William Clanton was in a dying condition."
"Did you know them by sight?" Price asked.
"I did not. I knew them only as they were identified to me by witnesses."
"What, if you know, caused their deaths?”
"Billy Clanton and Frank McLowry died from pistol bullets and Tom McLowry's death was caused by buckshot wounds."
“Would you describe Tom McLowry’s wounds?”
Dr. Matthews pursed his lips and said, “Found on his body twelve buck-shot wounds, on the right side of the body, near together under the arms between the third and fifth ribs. Laid the palm of my hand on them and it covered the whole of them, about four inches in space. The wounds went into the cavity of the chest and I consider them mortal.”
The District Attorney then asked about the various wounds on the bodies of Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton. Dr. Matthews took his time and gave a complete technical description of each wound sustained by Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton.
By the middle of that first session Doc’s nerves calmed down and he found himself fully engaged in the process, listening and taking notes.
(To be continued)

Writers Notebook:
Popular novelist Frank Yerby, The Foxes of Harrow, The Vixens, Floodtide, and 27 others had this comment relative to writing a novel. ‘It’s my contention that a really great novel is made with a knife and not a pen. A novelist must have the intestinal fortitude to cut out even the most brilliant passage as long as it doesn’t advance the story.’
For your information we touched on this subject back on October 15, 2008 when Ernest Hemingway talked about and related to it as regards to his short story, The Killers.

Tom's Books and Blogs
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
www.tombarnes39.com